Immersed in the Wild

Imagine kayaking everyday in the middle of warm ocean waters and living among the lush green habitat of Costa Rica.

Our Kayaking in Costa Rica group is doing just that.  They are safe and having a great time. It is a wilderness immersion Winterim at its best with no access to technology.  During this second week they will kayak a little bit more in areas where they may spot dolphins and whales, take in the sites surrounding them and possibly white water raft.

A Puerto Jimenez Beach

Have no worries about this group; they are having a great time and we look forward to seeing their amazing photos upon their return. They return to Boston late Friday evening.

"Everyday is Memorable"

The students in the Arc of Opportunity Winterim group have been helping out at the Arc Community Services Center in Fitchburg, MA for the past two weeks, interacting with adults that have developmental and physical disabilities. These students play games, draw pictures, and help the clients out in the workshop, a place where some of the more advanced clients can work for money. While they are doing these activities, the students talk to the clients about things like sports, music, and other favorites of theirs. The students occasionally find it difficult to talk to the clients, but for the most part they are able to have a conversation with them. When asked about any memorable moments they have had at the Arc, the students said, "everyday is memorable." They also said that the clients love having the students come and everyday the clients tell them that they love them and they will miss not having them around after Friday, the last day of Winterim. The students really enjoy going to the Arc, despite how exhausting it is, and they have found that they can learn a lot from being around these individuals.

From the Arc of Opportunity website

A Tricky Spider and a Magic Rock

The Something for Nothing Players have been traveling around New England this week, performing for children, and will continue to do so for the rest of the week. Based on what the Players have said, they are really enjoying performing for the children. When asked what it's like to finally showoff their work for kids one performer respond by saying, "It's awesome!" They have said that the children's energy throughout the performance makes it feel real and the children really look up to the Players. The Players also enjoy hearing and answering the questions that the children have after the performances.

The Something for Nothing Players' play is about a spider who tricks other animals into giving her their food by making them say a phrase near a magic rock that puts them to sleep for one hour. The animals then decide to get back at the spider by making her fall for her own trick. 

On Monday, the Something for Nothing Players performed at the Claremont Elementary Schools, in Claremont, NH, for grades 1-5. On Tuesday, they performed at Charlotte Avenue Elementary, in Nashua, NH, for grades 1-4. Today (Wednesday), they will perform at the Wellesley Community Children's Center, in Wellesley, MA, for preschoolers to third graders. On Thursday, they will perform twice at Campton Elementary, in Campton, NH, for grades 1-4. On Friday, they will perform twice at Maple Avenue School, in Goffstown, NH, for grades 1-4. We wish the best of luck to all the actors and actresses throughout their performances this week. Break a leg, Something for Nothing Players!

Here is their schedule for the week:

They Descend

Salyna posted on the LA Winterim FB page the update for Monday from Underwater Discovery. Check out that site to read about their first view of Nemo's home!

Post by Salyna Anza.

This update was received from Mr. Brescia and Andrew regarding yesterday's (Tuesday's) diving adventures:

Today (Tuesday), we became certified divers, which means it is our last day that we are obligated to be with an instructor at a depth of up to 60 feet. We spent a good portion of our dives at “the wall,” where we were on the edge of a 500- or 600-foot drop-off. We saw a host of marine life at this location of the reef, including barracudas, eagle rays, and parrot fish.

Declan Kelly, our dive master, began the day with instructions not to touch the bottom or come in contact with any of the coral, which we learned the other day is “built” by polyps acting like “microscopic masons.” We needed to practice only two skills in our first dive, mask removal at 45 feet and demonstrating how we had mastered neutral buoyancy using our oral inflater. This required that we remove our regulator two or three times in order to inflate our BCDs sufficiently to “hover” without touching the bottom.

On our first dive, we reached 60 feet and stayed there approximately 10 minutes before exploring the wall and then surfacing; on the second dive, we submerged at a different location of the same coral structure, and it was there that we all had our closest encounter with a spotted eagle ray, which glided by with much less effort than we needed to keep breathing while witnessing such grace. Nearly everyone took off their wet suits for the second dive to experience the gradual change in temperature during the descent. Ralph Flores, aka Tuff Love, challenged Mr. Brescia to a “game” of air consumption: he would descend with 600 psi and return with plenty of air when the rest of us would need no less than 1500 psi to complete the dive. Mr. Brescia surfaced with approximately 1200 psi and Ralph had 150, confirming that the dive masters have learned to consume a fraction of air needed by the rest of us.

Armed with a camera, Islambek Mussayev took nearly 100 photos, one of which features these two bloggers, Andrew Jean and Mr. Brescia. (see above)

At the end of our two dives, Declan gathered us all together for a group photo and told us to  be ready for our first open-water dive as fully certified open water divers tomorrow (Wednesday)!

Checkmate!

After a week and a half of learning how to play chess and all of the strategies that go behind it, the Chess Winterim has begun their final tournament in which all sixteen students will play through a double elimination bracket.

Mr. Z in the Zone

Students playing speed chess

As of this morning (Wednesday) the current bracket stands at:

Skimming the Ocean

Unlike our Underwater Discovery Winterim Group, whose adventures lie below the surface of the water, the Adventures in Sailing group coasts along the ocean surface learning how to maneuver a sailing vessel and observing marine and island life from above.

As reported on their blog entry, on Monday, they were able to snorkel along the reef in the Statia Marine Park.  This was after a morning of knot tying tests.  Later that day they enjoyed a dinner out off the boat with ice cream, a wonderful refreshing treat for the whole group.

On Tuesday their day began at 5 a.m. with a 3 hour hike up a volcano, "The Quill" (which should have taken them 6 hours!), and then continued with 7 hours of sailing over 38 miles of ocean to their next island!  Read more from their latest entry on their blog. This group is most definitely having an adventure of a lifetime.  We wish them continued good weather, calm seas and safe travels!

And the Moral of the Story is... You Can Trust the System? Man

Students standing at the Jefferson Memorial

On Monday morning, the System Winterim flew down to Washington D.C. and arrived safely at their hotel. That night, the group went for a walking tour around the D.C. area and saw locations such as the White House, the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial.

Yesterday, the group traveled around the D.C. area to visit various people and places that are important in the United States Federal Government. The group will continue to travel around D.C. today, before they head home on Thursday.

The locations and people that the group visited yesterday and will visit today are: Congress, various legislators, the Supreme Court, the FBI, various attorneys, and various cabinet officials.

The goal of this Winterim was for students to see and understand the inner workings of the United States government and  the various levels of the Judicial System.

Rewarding Yet Exhausting

In the HeadStart Winterim, thirty three Lawrence Academy Students have been helping out at various schools in Lawrence, MA and Lowell, MA. Mr. Woo, on of the faculty leaders of the HeadStart Winterim, has been leading eight students who act as teachers in eight different classrooms in Lawrence, MA. The schools we can find LA students helping out are the Common Street School, the Boys and Girls Club, Casa Roja, the Park Street School and another school in Methuen. Mr. Gagnon, Mr. Bates and Mr. Mitchell are leading twenty five students who are each acting as teachers in various classrooms in Lowell.

During their days helping as teachers, students work alongside two to four professional teachers and help to lead anywhere from eight to twenty children, ranging from ages three to five. While acting as a teacher, students helped manage the children during breakfast and lunch, manage play stations, help with reading and crafts, hold lessons on numbers and colors, help with recess activities, and modeling to the children how to be kind, sharing and respectful. Over the past week and a half of helping out in the classrooms, many Lawrence Academy students have formed friendly attachments to the students they are teaching. Students also expressed their new-found appreciation for teachers, especially those teaching preschool and elementary students.

Vamos a la Playa

The From the Ground Up Winterim group has sent this update about their first day in a new part of the Dominican Republic, having left El Mango, the community they were working with for the first week and a half of Winterim:


Hola amigos!

Today (Tuesday) was bittersweet, as we left the mountains of Yasica for the playa (beach) of Las Canas. Although we were sad to say good-bye to the leaders and people we had met while working in the schools and on the construction site, everyone was excited to see a new part of the DR and experience Dominican life at the beach.

We arrived at the Beach Comber, which could not offer a more lovely or serene ocean view. After checking into our rooms, we headed to the Mariposa Foundation, where we met up with the other DR Winterim group and learned about the Foundation, as well as the project that group was working on. It was great for the students to see what other work was happening in the DR, as well as for them to have lunch and say hi to the other LA students! The Mariposa Foundation works with local girls and young women to help prevent generational poverty through education and support groups. It was beneficial for both Winterim groups to learn about the work each other had been doing and the many different ways to contribute to helping a community.

After lunch, we returned to the Beach Comber, where we had some truly genuine and thoughtful reflection time as a group. We focused specifically on what it felt like to be "the other" in a new place in terms of thinking about race, socioeconomic status, and language. We also discussed the importance of being "unplugged" this trip, and what it felt like for the students to not have technology (phones, tablets, Wi-Fi, etc). As they have done each evening with the reflections, the students impressed us with their insight and honesty. Students talked about how they realized for the first time how fortunate they are and how  much they take for granted. They also discussed the difference being "poor" and "living in poverty," meaning it's one thing to lead an empty life but have a lot of material possessions, versus if they lead a full, community-driven life, but not necessarily have a lot of material wealth. In terms of the technology, it was refreshing to hear how much they enjoyed not having their phones. This group has bonded in such a way that they have truly become a Winterim family, and they unanimously attributed that to the lack of available technology.

Tomorrow (Wednesday), we will be taking a boat tour to learn about the marine wildlife in this area, as well as visiting different beaches. We will have a culminating reflection and discuss a "Call to Action" plan, where we will encourage the students to take what they have learned from this trip and apply it to their lives back home.

This trip has been one to remember, and we know our last day here will not disappoint. We are looking forward to enjoying the last of our time in the DR, and we know the students are as well.

Sending ocean waves and warm breezes,
Kacey and Rob